Folded towel dispenser

ABSTRACT

A paper towel dispenser for dispensing C-fold and multifold paper towels. The paper towel dispenser includes a housing having a rear wall, a pair of side walls, a top wall, a bottom wall and a front wall all cooperating to define a receiving space for a stack of paper towels placed therein. The front wall includes portions defining a slot having a closed end spaced apart from a first end of the front wall and an open end that is co-terminus with a second end of the front wall.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a non-provisional application claiming priority to U.S. Patent Application No. 62/727,349, filed Sep. 5, 2018, the entire contents of which is herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to folded towel dispensers, and more particularly to a ligature resistant folded towel dispenser

2. Description of Related Art

Folded towel dispensers have long been known in the art. Generally, the dispensers are designed to individually provide a paper towel from a stack of C-fold or multifold paper towels. Both C-fold or multifold paper towels are standard types of paper towels offered in commercial and institutional restrooms. The paper towels are received in a housing and dispensed through an opening or slot in the housing, which is sized to release one paper towel at a time.

Gravity fed dispensers are mounted to a wall of the restroom, receive the paper towels in a vertical stack and dispense the paper towels through a slot in the bottom of the dispenser's housing. Upon removal of a paper towel, the next paper towel moves downward, under the influence of gravity, so as to be positioned for removal from the slot. Actively fed dispensers typically have a pressure plate, biased by a spring, acting on the stack to keep the paper towels adjacent to the slot of the dispenser.

Mental health institutions have a growing concern of suicide by patients. Recent statistics have shown annual “inpatient” suicides in the thousands, with a significant majority of these suicides occuring in the patient's bathroom, bedroom or closet.

One method often used for inpatient suicide is the fastening a ligature to an object in the room. Most current folded paper towel dispensers have doors, hinges or slots were a ligature might be secured.

While it may be impossible to completely eliminate the possibility of a suicide using a ligature, mental health and other institutions are looking to incorporate ligature resistant structures within their facilities in an effort to combat and reduce inpatient suicides.

SUMMARY

In satisfying the above, the present invention provides a ligature resistant folded paper towel dispenser. Preferably, the paper towels are oriented vertically, as defined below, within the paper towel dispenser.

In one aspect of the invention, a paper towel dispenser for dispensing C-fold and/or multifold paper towels is provided having a housing with a rear wall, a pair of side walls, a top wall, a bottom wall and a front wall all cooperating to define a receiving space for the paper towels placed therein. The front wall has opposed first and second, ends with opposed sides extending therebetween. The front wall also includes portions defining a slot, with the slot having opposed sides, a closed end and an open end. The closed end of the slot is spaced apart from the first end of the front wall and the open end of the slot is co-terminus with the second end of the front wall.

In another aspect of the invention, the second end of the slot tapers outwardly from the opposed sides of the slot.

In a further aspect, the second end of the slot widens from the opposed sides of the slot.

In an additional aspect of the invention, the opposed sides of the slot cooperate to define a first width of the slot, and the second end of the slot defines a second width, wherein the second width is greater than the first width.

In still another aspect of the invention, the top wall extends obliquely from the rear wall to the front wall and overlies an end portion of the rear wall.

In an additional aspect, the length of the rear wall is greater than the length of the front wall.

In another aspect, the length of each of the side walls is greater than the length of the front wall.

In yet a further aspect of the invention, the open end of the slot terminates at a location along the side walls that is spaced apart from the bottom wall.

In another aspect of the invention, mounting apertures are provided for mounting the paper towel dispenser to a wall at an installation site, the mounting apertures being formed in the rear wall of the housing.

In still an additional aspect, the front wall includes portions defining at least two slots.

In yet an additional aspect of the invention, each of the at least two slots is associated with a receiving space defined by the housing for receiving a respective stack of paper towels therein.

In another aspect, the invention provides a ligature resistant paper towel dispenser for dispensing C-fold and multifold paper towels and mounting to a vertical wall at an installation site, the paper towel dispenser comprising: a housing having a rear wall, a pair of side walls, a top wall, a bottom wall and a front wall all cooperating to define a receiving space for a stack of paper towels placed therein, the rear wall being located against the vertical wall of the installation site and being secured thereto; the front wall having a top end adjacent to the top wall, a bottom end adjacent to the bottom wall, and opposed sides adjacent to the side walls and extending between the top and bottom ends; and wherein the front wall also includes portions defining a slot oriented vertically therein, the slot having opposed sides, a closed end and an open end, the closed end of the slot being spaced apart from the top end of the front wall and the open end of the slot being co-terminus with the bottom end of the front wall.

In further aspect of the invention, the bottom end of the slot tapers outwardly from the opposed sides of the slot.

In an additional aspect of the invention, the length of the front wall is less than the length of the rear wall.

In still another aspect, the length of the front wall is less than the length of the side walls.

In yet a further aspect of the invention, the bottom end of the front wall and the open end of the slot are spaced apart from the bottom wall.

In an additional aspect of the invention, wherein the bottom end of the front wall is spaced apart from the bottom wall along the side walls.

In yet another aspect, the top wall extends obliquely from the rear wall to the front wall and defines an external angle between the top wall and front wall that is greater than 15 degrees and less than 75 degrees.

In a further aspect of the invention, the front wall includes portions defining at least two slots, each of the at least two slots being associated with a receiving space defined by the housing for receiving a stack of paper towels therein.

In a further aspect, the invention provides a paper towel dispenser for dispensing C-fold and multifold paper towels, the paper towel dispenser comprising: a housing having a rear wall, a pair of side walls, a top wall, a bottom wall and a front wall all cooperating to define a receiving space for a stack of paper towels placed therein, the front wall including opposed first and second ends with opposed sides extending therebetween, the front wall also including portions defining a slot, the slot having opposed sides, a closed end and an open end, the closed end of the slot being spaced apart from the first end of the front wall and the open end of the slot being co-terminus with the second end of the front wall, the second end of the front wall being spaced apart from the bottom wall and defining a gap therebetween, the top wall extending obliquely from the rear wall to the front wall and defining an external angle between the top wall and front wall that is in the range of 35 to 65 degrees.

Further objects, features and advantages of this invention will become readily apparent to persons skilled in the art after review of the following description, including the claim, with reference to the drawings that are appended to and form a part of this specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a folded towel dispenser, with folded paper towels contained therein, embodying the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross sectional view of the folded towel dispenser seen in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the folded towel dispenser seen in FIG. 1, without the folded paper towels being contained therein;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a paper towel being removed from the folder towel dispenser seen in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a folded towel dispenser embodying the principles of the present invention and having two bays for receiving paper towels; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a folded towel dispenser embodying the principles of the present invention and having three bays for receiving paper towels.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As used in the description that follows, directional terms such as “upper” and “lower” are used with reference to the orientation of the elements as presented in the figures or in the intended installed position of the folded towel dispenser. Accordingly, “upper” indicates a direction toward the top of the figure and “lower” indicates a direction toward the bottom of the figure. The terms “left” and “right” are similarly interpreted relative to the presentation in the figures or when viewing the folded towel dispenser toward the slots provided therein. The terms “inward” or “inner” and “outward” or “outer” indicate a direction that is generally toward or away from a central axis of the referred to part, whether or not such an axis is designated in the figures. An axial surface is therefore one that faces in the axial direction. In other words, an axial surface faces in a direction along the central axis. A radial surface accordingly faces radially, generally away from or toward the central axis. It will be understood, however, that in actual implementation, the directional references used herein may not necessarily correspond with the installation and orientation of the corresponding components or device.

Referring now to the drawings, a folded paper towel dispenser (hereafter just “towel dispenser”) embodying the principles of the present invention is generally illustrated in FIG. 1 and designated at 10. As seen in FIG. 1, a stack of C-fold paper towels 12 is contained within the towel dispenser 10. While discussed herein as being used with C-fold paper towels, it will be appreciated that a towel dispenser incorporating the principles of the present invention may be used with other types of paper towels, including multi-folded, interleaved or other types of paper towels. Accordingly, the present invention is not intended to be restricted to C-fold paper towels. Further, the towels may be formed of a material other than paper, but paper is the preferred material.

The towel dispenser 10 is constructed so as to be ligature resistant, meaning that its construction is intended reduce the possibility that a ligature can be tied to or looped around the towel dispenser 10 or its various features. In this regard, one feature of the towel dispenser 10 is that it is configured to be mounted to an upright or vertical wall 14 such that the length of the paper towels 12 contained therein extended vertically. The vertical direction is designated in FIG. 1 by an “UP” arrow. In this orientation, the individual paper towels 12 are successively located one behind the other proceeding from the front wall of the towel dispenser 10 toward the back wall of the towel dispenser 10. This is in contrast to paper towel dispensers where the individual paper towels are oriented with their lengths extending horizontally, and with the stack of paper towels being vertically oriented, as is typical in a gravity feed dispenser.

The towel dispenser 10 preferably has no moving parts and includes a series of walls that cooperate to define a receiving bay 16 into which the stack of paper towels 12 is inserted. As seen in FIG. 3, the receiving bay 16 of the towel dispenser 10 is defined by a rear wall 18, left sidewall 20, right sidewall 22, bottom wall 24, top wall 26 and front wall 28. The left and right sidewalls 20, 22 oppose one another, as do the bottom and top walls 24, 26 and the rear and front walls 18, 28. The sidewalls 20, 22 extend forward from the longitudinal sides of the rear wall 18 and preferably define a 90 degree angle with the rear wall 18. Also, the sidewalls 20, 22 preferably have an overall length that is coterminous or approximately coterminous with the length of the rear wall 18 and have longitudinal side edges that are substantially parallel to one another. One end edge, namely the bottom edge, of the sidewalls 20, 22 is generally perpendicular to the side edges and the other end edge, the top edge, is angled relative to the side edges.

The bottom wall 24 also extends forward from the rear wall 18, preferably at an angle of about 90 degrees, and connects the bottom edges of the sidewalls 20, 22 to one another. Accordingly, the width of the bottom wall 24 corresponds to the width of the sidewalls 20, 22 and the length of the bottom wall 24 corresponds to the width of the rear wall 18.

The top wall 26 generally extends forward from the rear wall 18 and connects the top edges of the sidewalls 20, 22 to one another. Unlike the bottom wall 24, the top wall 26 extends from the rear wall 18 so as to define an acute angle (a) with the rear wall 18. Preferably, this angle (a) is in the range of 30 to 60 degrees and more preferably in the range of 45 to 60 degrees. In one preferred implementation, the angle is 52 degrees.

To assist in mounting the towel dispenser 10 to the wall 14, a mounting flange 30 may be provided. As illustrated, the mounting flange 30 is continuous with and extends from a rear edge of the top wall 26, adjacent to and co-planar with the rear wall 18. To further assist in mounting the towel dispenser 10, the mounting flange 30 is provided with one or more apertures 31. Securing the towel dispenser 10 to the wall 14 is achieved by engaging fasteners (not shown), such as screws, through the apertures 31 and into the wall 14. Additional apertures 31 are also provided in the rear wall 18 for receipt of additional fasteners and greater securement of the towel dispenser 10.

As seen in FIGS. 1 and 3, the front wall 28 interconnects the sidewalls 20, 22 and the top wall 26, but does not connect to the bottom wall 24. Rather, the front wall 28 extends along the front side edges of the sidewalls 20, 22 from the top wall 26 toward the bottom wall 24, but stops short of the bottom wall 24.

As a preferred material, the various walls and flange of the towel dispenser 10 are manufactured from 16 gage, type 304 stainless steel. Each of the rear wall 18, left sidewall 20, right sidewall 22, bottom wall 24, top wall 26, front wall 28 and mounting flange 30 may be individually formed and subsequently joined together by known methods, including welding at their respective adjacent edges, to form an integral unit.

Alternatively and preferably, one or more of the rear wall 18, left sidewall 20, right sidewall 22, bottom wall 24, top wall 26, front wall 28 and mounting flange 30 are unitarily formed from a sheet of material and bent to define the respective portions of the towel dispenser 10. For example, the towel dispenser 10 may be formed in two parts. For one part, the rear and bottom walls 18, 24 may be unitarily cut from sheet stock and formed by providing a bend defining the transition from the rear wall 18 to the bottom wall 24. For the other part, the left sidewall 20, right sidewall 22, top wall 26, front wall 28 and mounting flange 30 all may be unitarily cut from sheet stock with bends defining the transition from the left side wall 20 to the front wall 28, the transition from the right side wall 22 to the front wall 28, the transition from the front wall 28 to the top wall 26, and the transition from the top wall 26 to the mounting flange 30. Thereafter, the two parts may be joined together minimizing the number of welds required for the constructing of the towel dispenser 10.

Regardless of the construction, all joined edges between adjacent portions of the towel dispenser 10 are ground smooth and polished to reduce the possibility of a ligature engaging with the means used to connect the adjacent portions.

Formed in the front wall 28 is a slot 32. As seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the slot 32 provides access to both load a stack of paper towels 12 into the towel dispenser 10 and to remove an individual paper towel 34 from the towel dispenser 12. The slot 32 is generally bell-shaped and provides the front wall 28 with an inverted U-shape, as readily seen in FIG. 3. Thus, the front wall 28 can be seen as including opposed legs 36, 38 that are adjacent to the side walls 20, 22 and interconnect by a bridge 40, which is adjacent to the top wall 26. As noted previously, the front wall 28 preferably does not extend completely to the bottom wall 24. Instead, the front wall 28 terminates near, but is spaced apart from, the bottom wall 24, thereby forming an open gap 42 between the lower ends of the legs 36, 38 and the bottom wall 24.

C-fold paper towels are available in a variety of sizes, and the dimensions of the receiving bay 16 may be sized to receive a specific size of C-fold paper towel. One common size of a C-fold paper towel is approximately 3.5 inches wide by 10.5 inches long, in the folded condition. Accordingly, the dimensions of the receiving bay 16 are greater, but near these dimensions and may be approximately 4 inches wide by 11 inches long and 2.5 inches deep when measured externally and slightly less when measured internally. As previously noted, the top wall 26 is angled and slopes downward from the rear wall 18 toward the front wall 28. The length of the receiving bay 16 mentioned above is therefore measured from the bottom wall 24 to the transition between the front wall 28 and the top wall 26 so that the stack of paper towels 12 can be received in the bay 16 without compressing the upper end of the stack 12.

The paper towels are inserted into the receiving bay 16 by pushing the stack of paper towels 12 through the slot 32 toward the rear wall 18. The number of paper towels inserted at a given time may be less than the full stack of paper towels 12 that may be held in the receiving bay 16. Accordingly, the insertion of a partial stack of paper towels may be repeated until the full stack of paper towels 12, filling the receiving bay 16 from the rear wall 18 to front wall 28, is provided in the towel dispenser 10. As received in the bay 16, the stack of paper towels 12 is oriented vertically with the length of the stack 12 extending upwardly, in the direction of the UP arrow, and with one end of the stack 12 resting on and being supported by the bottom wall 24. This is seen in FIGS. 1 and 2.

To remove an individual paper towel 34, as seen in FIG. 4, a folded end 44 of the paper towel 34 may be grasped within the area of the slot 32 and pulled forward or laterally from the towel dispenser 10, through and out of the slot 32 leaving the next paper towel 34 exposed in the slot 32 of the front wall 28.

If a greater capacity of paper towels 34 is required, the towel dispenser may be provided with additional receiving bays. As seen in FIG. 5, a towel dispenser 210 embodying the principles of the present invention is provide with two receiving bays 216, and as seen in FIG. 6, a towel dispenser 310 embodying the principles of the present invention is provide with three receiving bays 316.

Referring now to FIG. 5, the towel dispenser 210 seen therein differs in one respect from the towel dispenser 10 of FIG. 1 in that the width of the corresponding rear wall 218, bottom wall 224, top wall 226 and mounting flange 230 are approximately doubled. Otherwise, these components of the towel dispenser 210 are the same as the towel dispenser 10 of FIG. 1. The towel dispenser 210 of FIG. 5 additionally differs from the towel dispenser 10 of FIG. 1 in that the width and shape of the front wall 228 is increased and altered, and a bay divider wall 250 is added to the assembly.

Regarding the width of the front wall 228, it too is generally double that of the single bay towel dispenser 10 seen in FIG. 1. Regarding its shape, instead of a bell-shaped slot, however, the front wall 228 includes two bell shaped slots 232. The front wall 228 is therefore provided in an M-shape, instead of the inverted U-shape of the front wall 28 of the single bay towel dispenser 10. The M-shape of the front wall 228 is seen as having left and right legs 236 and 238, as well as a middle leg 237. The left and right legs 236 and 238 are shaped identically as previously discussed in connection with the left and right legs 36, 38 to define a gap 42 at the lower end thereof. The portions of the middle leg 237 defining the slot may be similarly outwardly tapered or flared (relative to the remainder of the slot) at their lower ends as the previously discussed in connection with the left and right legs 36, 38 and terminate so as to define a gap 242. Alternatively, and as illustrated in FIG. 5, the lower ends may be joined forming a squared end with rounded corners 252 or simply a rounded end.

Similar to the previously discussed embodiment, the various legs 236, 237, 238 are connected at their upper ends by bridges 240.

The divider wall 250 extends from the rear wall 218 to the front wall 228 and from the bottom wall 224 to the top wall 226 separating and dividing the bays into two individual bays 216. The divider wall 250 is fixedly secured to those four walls, such as by a continuous weld or similar methods, such that no opening is provided through which a ligature may be inserted from one bay 216 to the other.

The three receiving bay towel dispenser 310 of FIG. 6 is constructed in a similar manner to the two receiving bay towel dispenser 210 discussed above, except that the width is again expanded and two middle legs 337 and divider walls 350 added, in the same manner, to define three receiving bays 316. Since the two and three receiving bay towel dispensers 210, 310 are otherwise identically constructed, further description of the three bay towel dispenser 310 is not provided herein, but will be readily appreciated by persons skilled in the technology, particularly with corresponding elements being designated with corresponding reference number of a 300 series designation.

As will also be appreciated, additional receiving bays beyond three may be similarly added to form a towel dispenser incorporating the principles of the present invention with ever further capacity.

The above description is meant to be illustrative of various preferred implementations incorporating the principles of the invention. One skilled in the art will really appreciate that the invention is susceptible to modification, variation and change without departing from the true spirit and fair scope of the invention, as defined in the claims that follow. The terminology used herein is therefore intended to be understood in the nature of words of description and not of limitation. 

I/We claim:
 1. A paper towel dispenser for dispensing C-fold and multifold paper towels, the paper towel dispenser comprising: a housing having a rear wall, a pair of side walls, a top wall, a bottom wall and a front wall all cooperating to define a receiving space for a stack of paper towels placed therein, the front wall having opposed first and second ends with opposed sides extending therebetween, the front wall also including portions defining a slot, the slot having opposed sides, a closed end and an open end, the closed end of the slot being spaced apart from the first end of the front wall and the open end of the slot being co-terminus with the second end of the front wall.
 2. The paper towel dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the second end of the slot tapers outwardly from the opposed sides of the slot.
 3. The paper towel dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the second end of the slot widens from the opposed sides of the slot.
 4. The paper towel dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the opposed sides of the slot define a first width and the second end of the slot defines a second width, the second width being greater than the first width.
 5. The paper towel dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the top wall extends obliquely from the rear wall to the front wall and overlies a portion of the rear wall.
 6. The paper towel dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the length of the rear wall is greater than the length of the front wall, the top wall extending obliquely from the rear wall to the front wall and overlies a portion of the rear wall.
 7. The paper towel dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the length of each of the side walls is greater than the length of the front wall.
 8. The paper towel dispenser according to claim 7, wherein the open end of the slot is set back along the side walls from the bottom wall.
 9. The paper towel dispenser according to claim 1, further comprising mounting apertures for mounting the paper towel dispenser to a wall at an installation site, the mounting apertures being formed in the rear wall of the housing
 10. The paper towel dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the front wall includes portions defining at least two slots.
 11. The paper towel dispenser according to claim 10, wherein each of the slots is associated with a receiving space defined by the housing for receiving a stack of paper towels therein.
 12. A ligature resistant paper towel dispenser for dispensing C-fold and multifold paper towels and mounted to a vertical wall at an installation site, the paper towel dispenser comprising: a housing having a rear wall, a pair of side walls, a top wall, a bottom wall and a front wall all cooperating to define a receiving space for a stack of paper towels placed therein, the rear wall being located against the vertical wall of the installation site and being secured thereto; the front wall having a top end adjacent to the top wall, a bottom end adjacent to the bottom wall, and opposed sides adjacent to the side walls and extending between the top and bottom ends; and wherein the front wall also includes portions defining a slot oriented vertically therein, the slot having opposed sides, a closed end and an open end, the closed end of the slot being spaced apart from the top end of the front wall and the open end of the slot being co-terminus with the bottom end of the front wall.
 13. The paper towel dispenser according to claim 12, wherein the bottom end of the slot tapers outwardly from the opposed sides of the slot.
 14. The paper towel dispenser according to claim 12, wherein the length of the front wall is less than the length of the rear wall.
 15. The paper towel dispenser according to claim 12, wherein the length of the front wall is less than the length of the side walls.
 16. The paper towel dispenser according to claim 12, wherein the open end of the slot is spaced apart from the bottom wall.
 17. The paper towel dispenser according to claim 12, wherein the bottom end of the front wall is spaced apart from the bottom wall along the side walls.
 18. The paper towel dispenser according to claim 12, wherein the top wall extends obliquely from the rear wall to the front wall and defines an external angle between the top wall and front wall that is greater than 15 degrees and less than 75 degrees.
 19. The paper towel dispenser according to claim 12, wherein the front wall includes portions defining at least two slots, each of the at least two slots being associated with a receiving space defined by the housing for receiving a stack of paper towels therein.
 20. A paper towel dispenser for dispensing C-fold and multifold paper towels, the paper towel dispenser comprising: a housing having a rear wall, a pair of side walls, a top wall, a bottom wall and a front wall all cooperating to define a receiving space for a stack of paper towels placed therein, the front wall including opposed first and second ends with opposed sides extending therebetween, the front wall also including portions defining a slot, the slot having opposed sides, a closed end and an open end, the closed end of the slot being spaced apart from the first end of the front wall and the open end of the slot being co-terminus with the second end of the front wall, the second end of the front wall being spaced apart from the bottom wall and defining a gap therebetween, the top wall extending obliquely from the rear wall to the front wall and defining an external angle between the top wall and front wall that is in the range of 35 to 65 degrees. 